Alpha Team
by uptown
Summary: In that moment Troy wished he was a telepath, just so that he could figure out what was going through her mind. She was quiet and mysterious. She was a change of pace. She wasn't like the other girls around here. And she was even prettier up close.
1. Role Call

_Welcome to McLean._

Sharpay sighed and leaned her head against the cool glass of the black Range Rover she was seated in the backseat of. Her skinny jean-clad legs were folded up on the black leather. She didn't care if she got her mother's car dirty. She was the one who was to blame for she and her brother's arrival in this town. Well, hers and... _theirs_. She wasn't supposed to talk about them. She wasn't even supposed to think about them, especially when there were people like her brother around.

"_Stop thinking about it, Shar."_

She lifted her head from the window and turned her brown eyes to stare at the back of her twin brother, Ryan's, seat. _"Stay out of my brain, loser,"_ she commanded mentally.

"_Make me. I dare you."_ He shot back, sending a silent message into her ears for only her to hear. She narrowed her eyes, knowing that Ryan was up there smirking. Telepathy. That was the logical term for it. Ability to read thoughts and mentally communicate with others. Out of all the powers a person could be born- or chemically fused- with, it was one of the more common. It was also one of the more common powers for pop culture to play with. Case in point: That's So Raven. But Sharpay had something different. Something less Disney Channel approved.

"OW, SHARPAY." Ryan exclaimed, leaning forward in the passenger's seat while grabbing his blonde head. Sharpay bit back her smile, feeling less than ashamed as her brother cradled away his throbbing headache. She looked back out of the window and saw an array of large houses, probably belonging to the family of some government official or another. Couldn't the CIA have picked a more interesting state to be located in than Virginia? They were the CIA, for crying out loud. Would sunny Florida have been too much to ask? "Mom, she's blasting!"

"Am not." Sharpay retaliated weakly. It was no use arguing something with someone who could tell when someone was lying by the slightest inflection in their voice. Their mom didn't have any super powers like they did, or like any of the kids would in the school she was taking them to would- but being a secret agent helped.

"Sharpay, you know how I feel about you using that particular gift." Lidia scolded, making eye contact via the rearview mirror. She preferred calling their powers 'gifts'. Like they were given to them wrapped in a bow one holiday. She said the phrase 'super power' sounded too Marvel Comics.

"Sure, yell at _me_ when he's the one who provoked me in the first place."

"One- stay out of your sister's mind, Ryan. And two- you have the power to keep him out, Sharpay. Think of that next time you're tempted to go psionic."

Sharpay rolled her eyes and resumed her position of staring out the window. She did have the power to keep him out. She was aware of that. It was called power negation. She just much preferred to use her psionic blast. It was much more fun... in a sick, twisted way. According to a doctor at the Training Institute back in Albuquerque, with her blasts, she had the ability to cause pain, memory loss, unconsciousness, vegetative states, and even death. Not that she ever planned to kill anyone... but... it was there... She hadn't even practiced that specific ability at the Institute. Still, she didn't exactly think of herself as Superman.

/

Ryan opened his eyes once the headache his sister had blasted him with fully receded. They were at the front of a large gate and his mother was rolling down the window to speak to the security guard. He almost scoffed at the idea of a security guard for a place with students who could probably sense a threat coming from a mile away. _"Wow, she's hot. I wonder if she's married... damn... wedding ring... maybe she'd still-"_

Ryan made a face and tuned out of the security guard's mind, shaking his head. The downside of being telepathic was that you always seemed to come across thoughts that you'd wish had been kept inside of their mind. Hearing guys thoughts about picturing your sister naked were not easy to ignore. The gate opened slowly, disappearing into a random segment of brick wall, and the Range Rover drove up a small hill, around a few curves, and he could hear Sharpay mentally ticking off reasons why this school was going to suck.

As far as he knew, it was the first day of the school year at East High School for Extraordinary Young Minds- East High for short. But the Evans black truck was the only car in the driveway. He looked at the clock. 10:34 AM. Were they late or something? His mom turned off the ignition and unbuckled her seat belt. She looked back at Sharpay and then over at him. "Role call started four minutes ago. The security guard told me it takes place in the Student Center. I'm going to go park the car so I can find the Headmaster's office. "

"_Role call? What is this, a prison?" _Sharpay thought, opening the door and pushing it shut loudly behind her. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a silver chain. She took the small, triangular, ruby ring off of her finger and laced the chain through it before locking it around her neck. She fluffed her long blonde hair and looked around. "Gee, I wonder which of these identical brick buildings that could be."

"Probably the one with with the big 'Student Center' sign on it." Ryan answered, shutting his own door and nodding at the brick building located two away from the one they were parked in front of. As their mom drove towards the parking lot on the far side of campus, she simply glared at him, clearly irritated with both him and having to be here at this school. She had never been a morning person. "I'll give you another headache," she warned in the open now that there was no adult around to stop her. As she started walking past him, their shoulders brushed, and she added, "_and I won't feel bad about it."_

/

"-and the use of your powers while in role call is prohibited. Is that understood?"

The entire room voiced a unanimous "Yes ma'am" as Headmistress Darbus stood in front of all of them. Troy watched her eyes survey around the room, flickering as if she was able to sense who was reading her mind and who was using x-ray vision on her. She could, actually, he had learned last year, detect powers in other people. He wasn't sure how it worked exactly, though. Did a voice in her head tell her that the girl next to him was able to manipulate plants? A sort of useless power, but whatever, he wasn't one to judge. He was in the front of the room due to his last name being Bolton and there being a lack of students with 'A' last names. Her eyes landed on him and he imagined the voice inside of her mind: Troy Bolton, teleportation, intangibility, power mimicry.

Three powers. Two more than most of the students in the room. Having one power was special enough. Having two was extremely lucky. Having three was almost suspicious. It made people wonder if you were tested on by the government or some mad scientist. Which, who knows, he may have been. He could have been mutated when he was younger, had that part of his memory erased, and been sent on his merry way... Nah, his dad would definitely have told him about that. He adjusted his navy blue and silver striped tie, suddenly uncomfortable in his uniform.

Her eyes turned towards the back of the room and she stared for at least 20 seconds before the door to the Student Center opened. The seated students did a 180 to see who dared to walk into the role call ten minutes late. Troy resisted the urge to crane his neck and get a better look at the two figures awkwardly standing in front of the now-shut oak doors. He could tell that one was a boy and one was a girl.

"The Evans twins, am I correct?" Headmistress Darbus asked, probably already knowing the answer. She had the ability to see the future- that's obviously who she was waiting for while staring idly at the doors a moment ago.

"Correct." The Evans boy voiced, nudging his sister to start walking with him down the aisle in between the rows of students. When they were close enough to the front, Troy got a good look at them. Both blonde, both with a lightly golden-tan skin. The Evans girl was pretty. She has long wavy hair that stood out between the sun shining through the windows and the black shirt-dark jeans combo she was sporting. He wondered what her power was. She was thin and not very tall so that eliminated some of the more intense powers. Probably had pheromone manipulation or something.

"You're not in uniform."

"We haven't had time to visit the school store, Headmistress." The boy replied. What, didn't the girl talk? Maybe she had some sort of sonic scream, and whatever she said came out so high pitched that she could only use sign language... Troy rolled his eyes at himself. He was just throwing out nonsense now. Proving further that she knew the Evans twins would be arriving late, she walked over to an empty chair and picked up a few folded clothes. She turned and held them out to them. "Out that door and down the hallway you'll find bathrooms. Be quick. We're sorting out teams in five minutes."

Teams. Definitely one of the best parts of school. Students got split up into groups of ten or so by their power. No team could have more than one of the same power, in attempt to have a sort of balance. Since it didn't matter what grade you were in, Troy was hoping he wouldn't get stuck in a group with any freshman like last year. Maybe he'd get grouped with Evans girl... No... There was no way she had more than one power. Two at most. She was too innocent looking. The students moved to stack the chairs along the wall. After a few minutes of slow chair moving the twins reentered. He saw the girl had been given a plaid navy skirt, crisp white shirt and a matching vest, which she wore open, careless about the fact that she would most likely get reprimanded by the Headmistress. She stood on the outskirts, examining her surroundings while her brother stood next to her.

Troy felt a tug on his arm and turned to see his best friend Zeke Baylor at his side. He tilted his head towards the two. "Think we'll get stuck with one of the blonde noobs?"

"Be nice, Zeke, remember how you felt when you were new." Gabriella Montez interrupted, a small smile on her face as she looked up at Zeke. He noticeably softened at her brown-eyed gaze and he nodded, "You're right, Gabriella, that was rude of me. I should go introduce myself or something..."

Troy choked back a laugh as Zeke shook his head, realizing what had just happened. He narrowed his eyes teasingly, "Gabriella Montez, did you not hear what Darbus said about using powers in role call?"

"I don't know what powers you're referring to." The brunette shrugged her shoulders as she brushed invisible wrinkles off the sleeve of her blouse.

"No? Ever heard of empathy? Ability to control emotions and feelings? Well, it is a form of mind control and the use of such is frowned upon."

"Oh, quiet," Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Like you didn't use your x-ray vision to check out what the new girl had on underneath her jeans."

"Students. Attention." Troy was always amazed at how quiet a room could get when Headmistress Darbus was in the room. She stood in the front of the mass of students with a strong poise. "I will call these teams in no particular order... When you hear your name, find one another and wait silently until the rest of your team is called. I will hand your the name of your team on a piece of paper. Please do not announce the team until you have left the room. First team: Vanessa Smith, Zachary Davids, Ashley..."

After every name that was unfamiliar, Troy held his breathe, hoping that his name was next. If he heard a name that he recognized was synonymous with a not-so-exciting power, he crossed his fingers that he wouldn't be stuck in the Omega Team again. Sure, Darbus said that there was no particular order. But there was obviously a sort of hierarchy system in place. As in the least respected team was normally the Omega Team, the Theta Team was sort of average, and the Alpha Team was the team everyone respected. Simply because it was known that those placed in that team were chosen because their powers complimented each other perfectly. Plus, it was also the team that the CIA called if there was ever a problem that needed solving. It was a position of, for lack of a better word, power.

"Next team: Taylor McKessie, Martha Cox, Jason Cross, Chad Danforth-" Troy watched as the four seniors walked up front towards the Headmistress. They were the group of seniors that he, Zeke, and Gabriella were closest too. Mainly because they were the only ones at the school who possessed three powers. They were the ultimate. It was obvious they would be placed together. Probably Beta team. "-Gabriella Montez, Zeke Baylor, Troy Bolton, Ryan Evans and Sharpay Evans."

Being as Sharpay was the last one called, Darbus had handed her the folded paper off which she had read their names. The paper that sealed their fate for the rest of the school year. Troy was tempted to go up to her and introduce himself right then just so that he could see the team name. If Gabriella hadn't been there to calm his anxiousness with a hand on his arm. After the groups had been called, role call was dismissed and the students of East High were able to talk freely without fear of being lashed by Darbus. Troy looked around, listening and looking for reactions to decipher who could be on the Alpha Team.

"Shall we go outside for the big unveiling, then?" Martha, one of the seniors asked. She grabbed her friend Taylor by the arm and glided towards the door. Gabriella let loose Troy's arm and hurried to catch up to them, and Troy found himself nearest Sharpay, who, for the first time was at a distance from her brother, if only by a couple feet. He figured it would be an appropriate time to introduce himself. "Hi,"

Oh, yeah, real conversation starter.

Sharpay turned her head towards him, looking him up and down in a millisecond before answering with an almost curious, "Hi."

"You're new then?" He asked, continuing with his parade of interesting talking points. She blinked, "Nothing gets past you, does it?"

In that moment Troy wished he was a telepath, just so that he could figure out what was going through her mind. He hoped she couldn't read his, and was hearing these thoughts right now. But that could have been the case. She was quiet and mysterious. Normally people turned into butter around him. She was a change of pace. She wasn't like the other girls around here with powers. And she was even prettier up close. "What I mean is- You're like- Did you just get your power?"

She looked away from him as they reached the door, and she flashed an almost unnoticed thank-you smile as he held the door open for her. "No, I've had them since I was eight."

"Huh." Troy acknowledged, taking into account the fact that she said 'them' and not 'it'. She had more than one power. He wanted to know which and how many.

"Come on, Evans, let's see the paper." Chad said, excited by the look on his face. Taylor smacked his chest with the back of her palm. "Chad, calm down. Headmistress gave her the paper, so let her read it."

"Couldn't you just see through the paper?" Troy asked as he stopped in between Zeke and Gabriella, who was watching Ryan intently as he stood beside his sister. Ryan had a small smirk on his face before Sharpay had even begun to open the folded paper. Zeke shook his head. "You know Darbus uses special paper around campus for crap like this so that our powers can't work through it. I see through the brick walls better."

"That's almost a waste." Troy pat his shoulder, before looking back at Sharpay, who had the paper open in front of her. Her brown eyes were scanning the paper left to right. He couldn't take the suspense any longer, "Well? Which team?"

Sharpay blinked up to look directly into his eyes. And for a moment Troy was distracted from his excitement of knowing the team. How did she do that? She lowered the paper slightly, and Troy felt the anticipation about to boil over.

"Alpha Team."

* * *

Okay, now if you hadn't figured it out, in the beginning when there are separate quotes of italics, that's what Ryan is hearing or saying via telepathy. I don't think its that hard to figure out, but I thought I might as well clear it up just in case when there's more dialogue like that in future chapters.

I'm not sure if there's going to be a lot of interest in this story, actually. Just because there's no trailer and my summary sucks. But if it gets more than three or four reviews showing that it will be read, I'll keep it going. Thanks, and hoped you did like it. (:


	2. One Thing

I'm legitimately surprised that people showed interest in it so quickly. I was at work and I was reading the reviews and I was very inspired to write the next chapter quickly. I figured since I enjoyed them so much, I'd answer them personally.

**Cheer Girl 97**: First review! Thanks a lot, I'm glad you like it!

**shortness11cat5**: Thanks for reading all my stories, it really really means a lot. And I'm glad I could make you laugh haha

**Anne Bell**: Yeaaaaaah, I clicked 'horror' on accident instead of 'mystery'. Thanks for pointing that out. Haha. And as for everything else: 1. Troy's powers are going to be explained in this chapter and more later on, just like the others. 2. Ryan is the only one who is telepathic. Sharpay couldn't read Ryan's mind, but he was able to send his thoughts into her brain for her to hear. That's a part of the power. She could only hear what he was sending her, not his entire brain. 3. Yes, this was the story I was referring to haha. 4. It makes me so happy that you've read and reviewed basically all of my stories. I'm grateful that you're a fan and I'm sorry I'm such a slow updater haha

**Duhhitskatieox**: Thanks for liking it and thanks for not thinking it sucked haha. I felt like it wasn't super enticing, but I'm glad this is a story you've been waiting for. Hopefully I won't disappoint you (:

**ILoveZacEfron27**: Wow. Thank you. Like, a lot haha. And double thanks for adding me to your favorite authors list 3

**PuSssHhh**: Thank you, I think I'll continue with it, and thanks (:

**MeganBishop**: I'm glad you think so and that you like it. Thanks for reading!

**62toasters62**: Thanks for the author alert! And for liking my writing. I really appreciate it. And I'm really gad you like it!

AND since more than one person asked/showed longing for, I'll try my hardest to get an update for ITS within the week. Hope you like the chapter. Any questions just ask me and I'll answer. Thanks and keep reviewing (:

* * *

"Let me see the paper again."

"Dude, you've read it like seventeen times already."

"I know. Because I don't believe it. I mean, Alpha Team? It's too fucking awesome." Zeke leaned forward and took the paper from Troy's hand. Sharpay sat alone in a La-Z-Boy singular chair in the common room of one of the boys dorms. Apparently this was the one Ryan was going to be living in. It was sort of boring. Off-white painted walls and a weird grey and blue speckle carpet. Gross. Not exactly a page out of Martha Stewart Living. _"You know yours probably looks exactly like this."_ She sighed and looked over at Ryan on the couch adjacent hers, in a new white shirt and khakis. Could he stay out her mind for like a second? _"Can't. Sorry. All the others are thinking about is being on Alpha Team. Boring."_

All the others? Really? Even Troy who was sneaking what he thought were unnoticed curious glances with his extremely blue eyes. _"What's Troy thinking?" _Ryan's brown eyes flickered over to him and then back at her. _"You know you shouldn't be getting involved with boys. We have a mission."_ Sharpay rolled her eyes and toyed with the ring on her necklace. She didn't even understand this whole 'Team' thing. What, were they all going to fight crime after class or something?

"So the entire team has three powers. We're going to rule East High. The CIA _has_ to recruit us. We're like the fucking Avengers." Chad announced to the group, who had all introduced themselves to she and Ryan. He was one of the seniors. And with his massive amount of hair she wondered if he could shape shift into a chinchilla.

"No, Chad. We've got Sharpay and Ryan." Troy corrected, leaning his head in her direction. He turned and caught her eye, but she simply stared back. What? She didn't look like she could have three powers? Did she look weak? Did she look like she cared about whether or not she broke a nail? She was three seconds from blasting him. News flash, Pretty Boy, I have four powers. More than you, so don't go- _"Relax, Shar."_ Ryan ordered via telepathy. She took in a breath and let it go, feeling like someone other than her brother was trying to get inside of her brain.

"What's up with you guys? What's your deal?" Troy asked, seeming more focused on Sharpay than Ryan. He was really interested in her. And it was almost bothering her. She merely blinked an answer, staring at him with eyes that could do a lot more damage than he was going to know. If he thought she was weak, he wasn't worth it. Though it meant her cover was holding up nicely.

"What do you mean, our deal?" Ryan answered for her. Troy turned towards him, but Zeke was the one who spoke, "You know, your deal. Your powers."

"We aren't noobs." Ryan answered in a flat tone. Sharpay looked over at Zeke and then at her brother. Zeke must have been mentally teasing the two of them. He narrowed his eyes the smallest bit, hiding his shame for being caught, "Telepathic. How fun."

"_He's wondering how we're in Alpha Team with them if we only have one powers."_ Ryan said to Sharpay's mind. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair. _"These amateurs are not worthy of knowing our powers."_

"So, Ryan, can you read your sister's mind and find out why she refuses to speak?"

"I could." He answered, "But she'd probably just keep me out."

"Power negation?" A female voice said. Sharpay opened her eyes and looked over to the innocent looking brunette girl sitting next to Troy. Gabriella was smiling, clearly interested. "Of course. That explains it."

"That explains what?" Sharpay said dryly.

"Okay, don't feel violated or anything-"

"Oh god," Taylor, another one of the seniors, said, putting her face into her palm.

"-But I was trying to get a reaction out of you and I thought you were nervous or something so I... sort of... tried using my empathy on you... to get you to relax a little." Gabriella blushed. Sharpay smirked, she thought she had felt someone other than Ryan trying to sneak into her mind. God, she was good.

"You're the only one at East High with that power." Zeke explained. "Maybe that's why you're in Alpha. Troy can mimic other people's powers and you can cancel them out. Pretty hardcore duo right there."

She looked over at Troy, who had to turned to look at her again as well. There was something in his gaze that made her feel vulnerable. She was going to have to work on that.

/

"_So I guess this is why they stuck us in a triple this year."_ Troy thought as he pushed open the door to their dorm room.

"_I wonder what's for dinner tonight. I'm starving. I hope it's pizza."_ Zeke thought, walking into the room and collapsing onto one of the beds. "_Mmmm... pizza..."_

"_I need to get out of this uniform."_ Troy thought, as he sat down on one of the beds, loosened his tie and pulled it over his head, unbuttoning the top few buttons of the white shirt identical to the one Ryan was wearing. _"I wonder what Sharpay thinks of the uniforms. She didn't look too happy. She looked good in the uniform, though. Obviously works out._"

Ryan smirked and sat back on the only unoccupied bed in the room. Yeah, if you counted three hours a day at the gym, working out. His sister was very, _very_ committed to the regime that had been set up for them. Not that she really needed to go to the gym. She already had superhuman strength.

"So, your sister said you got her powers when you were eight." Troy said in Ryan's direction. It took him a minute to realize that he had said it out loud and not in his mind. The kid had been thinking about his sister all morning. It wouldn't have been a long shot. Ryan nodded. "No, only she did. I got mine when I was nine."

"How can you tell that you've got power negation when you're eight years old?" Zeke asked, still lying down. "I mean... if you didn't get your power until after her, how could she of known? Did you guys grow up in some Super Power Orphanage or something?"

"_What the hell, Zeke, you don't just go asking people if they were raised in an orhpanage. Then again, it would explain why Sharpay is so quiet..."_

_Not quite an orphanage_, Ryan thought to himself, glad he was the only one in the room who could read minds. "No, our dad had powers so he could tell. And Troy, Sharpay isn't shy, she just doesn't trust people with information she thinks they don't need to know."

"How'd you-" Troy stopped himself, and shook his head, scratching behind his ear. "_Oh_, right. Forgot. That'll take getting used to."

"You're not friends with any telepaths here?"

"Well, both years I've been on a team with one, but they normally kept what they heard on the inside. As opposed to, you know, responding to what they heard out loud."

"You ever use your mimicry to use their telepathy?" Ryan asked, curious with ulterior motives.

"No, actually. It's probably my least utilized power. I use it a lot with Gabriella when I'm trying to study. She has innate capability so she has all of this knowledge inside of her without even having to learn it."

"_Did you want to try it out_?" Ryan asked, sending the message straight into Troy's mind. Naturally, he had a minor freak out as the look of confusion crossed his face. "Did I just read your mind?"

Zeke sat up, suddenly curious. Ryan shook his head, keeping his voice only inside of Troy's head, "_No. But I can send thoughts directly into other people's brains. Think your answer. I want to see how freaked out we can make Zeke."_

Troy looked over at Zeke, amused but still confused by the situation, "_So he can't hear us?"_

"_Not unless he can read minds. He's extremely confused right now. Want to hear?"_ Ryan raised an eyebrow and Troy nodded slowly. He stood up and walked towards him slowly. It took him an indecisive second before placing his hand on Ryan's shoulder.

/

Zeke was simply staring back and forth at the two of them, his mouth wasn't moving but Troy could hear his voice in his head clearly, "_Why the hell are they looking at me like that? What's Troy doing? Is there something in my teeth. I'm very confused. Very confused. Can't we just play video games? Why do they have to stare at me? Ryan, if you're reading my mind, knock it off, I don't like it."_

Troy pulled his hand back, laughing. He brain felt slightly drained but he figured it was just the side effect of using the mimicry. He hadn't used the power in a while, it was probably going to take some getting used to. Especially after copying a power he'd never experienced before. "Can't play video games, Zeke, sorry. Too nice of a day outside."

"What, you read my mind, too?" He friend asked, looking up at him. He waved his hand at the space in between he and Ryan. "I'm calling shenanigans on this entire situation."

"Don't be jealous." Troy said, walking back over to his bed where his two suitcases sat. One full of clothes and shoes, the other of random things he'd need around the room. He unzipped one and pulled out a pair of Vans. Then he rummaged for a pair of basketball shorts. He wasn't about to have practice rounds in his school clothes. He'd learned that lesson freshman year. "Just get ready to go outside."

"What's a practice round?" Ryan asked, clearly invading his mind without shame. Troy was going to have to learn not to think about a lot of things. He sat on the edge of his bed and kicked his shoes off, unbuttoning the rest of his shirt, revealing a white t-shirt from his middle school days as a basketball player. "The reason we have the entire day off."

"Basically the Team gets together and we get to kick each other's asses. With our powers." Zeke seemed to be looking for his own clothes to change into. "Once class starts, they're supervised and aren't as much fun. Today's when everyone walks around with bloody noses and shit. Everyone at dinner looks they just went through war."

"You can use any power?" Ryan asked, and Troy looked at him curiously as he stood up, sliding his shorts on over his boxers. What damage could he do with telepathy? What other power was he hiding? "Yeah, pretty much. As long as you don't permanently injure or kill the other person."

"Sweet." Ryan replied calmly, getting the hint and unzipping his suitcase on the floor next to his dresser.

"I'm gonna get Gabriella. See you guys outside." Troy said, sliding his feet into his skate shoes. He took a took a second, pictured her bedroom, and vanished from the room.

/

"Do we have to stay in these uniforms all day?" Sharpay asked through the closed bathroom door. It was the third thing she'd said to Gabriella since walking into their dorm room.

"Technically, yes. We're supposed to keep them on until after study. Then we change for practice rounds." She answered, already unpacking her suitcase. She folded up another pair of yoga pants and stuck them in a dresser drawer. She was wearing the plain navy skirt as opposed to the plaid one that Sharpay was wearing. It was the school's attempt to give the students a choice on what to wear. The choices were: ugly and blue or ugly and plaid.

She turned around to grab some more clothes from her bag and almost screamed as a figure appeared in front of her. "Jesus!"

"The name's Troy, actually." He smiled, shaking his hair as if teleporting had messed it up. "But I'm flattered."

"Shut up." She laughed as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug. She smiled against his chest, tempted to use her pheromone manipulation to get him to kiss her right there. But she knew that it wasn't right. She'd tried that before and he hadn't appreciated it. He pulled back and looked around, "Where's the roommate?"

Of course he wanted to know where Sharpay was. Gorgeous, blonde, new and mysterious Sharpay. "Bathroom."

"Well, we're meeting in the field for practice rounds, tell her you'll meet her at dinner."

Gabriella's eyebrows furrowed. Did he not know she was rooming with her? Maybe he forgot that when you're in a team, you typically room together. Maybe he wasn't interested in Sharpay at all. Gabriella wasn't the jealous type of ex-girlfriend, but she really hoped it was the latter. Hearing the conversation from behind the bathroom door, the blonde opened the door slowly, standing there in her plaid skirt and untucked white shirt looking like a disheveled Victoria's Secret Angel with her long wavy hair. Gabriella was almost sure she had rolled her skirt more than once. "What's a practice round?"

"Uh," Troy, staring shamelessly with his boyish blue eyes, answered only after Gabriella had nudged him in the side with her elbow. "We practice our powers... and stuff..."

"Fun." Sharpay said in reply, though besides a small smirk she looked uninterested as she ruffled her hair further.

"I'll wait while you guys get changed. Then I'll shoot us down there." Troy said, seeming to have regained composure. He sat down in Gabriella's desk chair and examined the clear container of picture frames and desk supplies in front of him. He pulled out the first picture of she and her mom and turned to her as she grabbed a second pair of yoga pants to practice in. "Want me to set up a little?"

She grabbed a purple tank top and pushed the drawer shut. "I don't know, you might make a mess of it."

He rolled his eyes and looked back to the desk. "Puh-lease, Montez. You've set up your desk the same since freshman year. Books on bottom, frames on top. You and mom in the middle and you and me on the right." He placed the frame in his hand directly in the middle of the lone shelf on the wooden desk, and then leaned his head back to cast a curious glance at her smile. "How'd I do?"

"Not bad. But only do the picture frames. Don't touch my books" She teasingly whipped him with the leg of her black yoga pants. She heard a door shut and turned to see the bathroom door closed again. Sharpay must have been getting changed. She walked closer to Troy, who was trying to place the frames on the shelf as straight as possible to comply with her mild case of OCD. In a low voice, she said, "If she got her powers so early, why do you think she's only coming to East High now?"

Troy shrugged, "Maybe she didn't know about it? Ryan said they came all the way from New Mexico."

Gabriella looked back at the door. "Don't you think there's something about them that's... strange?"

He sat back and turned to look at her. "You're the genius girl. You tell me."

"Innate capability doesn't cover stuff like this. It just seems odd, okay?"

"What? Like they're hiding something?"

"I don't know." She shook her head. She hadn't thought it out that far. But being around Sharpay and Ryan just made her feel uncomfortable. "Maybe."

"Because Ryan is definitely a telepath. He let me mimic and it was awesome." Troy said, smirking. "Zeke was freaking out. And as for Sharpay, you said you were trying to use your empathy on her and it wasn't working. Power negation is the only reason as to why that would happen, right?"

"As far as I know, yes." She mumbled. Her powers had never _not_ worked before. She really wasn't happy about it. And it didn't help that Sharpay was such a quiet person. If she talked, Gabriella wouldn't be so tempted and therefore as frustrated. "Unless the person is in like... a coma... or dead."

"Or on the other side of glass." Sharpay added, tossing her uniform carelessly onto her bed. Gabriella kept a straight face and couldn't help but notice that Troy was staring. Again. Was this going to happen every time Sharpay was in the room? Surely, he'd grow less stunned by her obvious beauty and stare more at, oh who knows, _hers_? She held her practice clothes closer to her, examining her roommate in her black Soffe shorts and her loose-fitting short sleeve red shirt. The blonde looked up from putting on a pair of sneakers to respond to her inquisitive gaze. "I know a guy."

"Another empathist?" Gabriella clarified.

"From where?" Troy added, eyes probably glued to her tan limbs.

Sharpay didn't look up, instead focusing her attention on tying her laces. "My dad."

Troy looked up at her as Gabriella's jaw dropped uncomfortably. She caught it and bit her lip, sensing the less-than-happy tone in her voice. He tapped her in the thigh with the back of his hand, flashing his eyes wider, an attempt to get her to do something. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry about it." She said, sitting up and tucking her necklace into her shirt. "Getting changed?"

Gabriella nodded and walked across the room to the bathroom, clothes in hand. Maybe she was wrong about Sharpay and Ryan. Maybe she Sharpay was just shy because of whatever happened to her father. Well... maybe she didn't read emotions too well, after all.

/

Sharpay relaxed, letting her wall of negation go down. She was thankful that she'd been able to come across as sad while talking about her dad. Not that she wasn't a little unhappy about his death, because she was; but she wasn't exactly the type to sit and cry about it. The Institute had taught her not to feel emotional about things like that. Even if his death was more of a murder by members of the benefactors of this very school. The CIA . The head honchos. They thought they were doing the right thing. They didn't even have a clue. She felt a pair of eyes staring at her, so she finished tying the laces of her well-worn NIKE Air Maxs and looked over at him.

For a while they just sat like that, not saying anything. The only noises heard were that of Gabriella in the bathroom and people rearranging their belongings in neighboring rooms. His eyes felt invasive but not uncomfortable. She was used to being watched. "Question?" She asked, pulling her feet up onto her bed and crossing them Indian-style.

He blinked a few times and scratched behind his ear. Sharpay made a mental note of the nervous tick. "Many."

She examined his eyes for a few seconds. "Like?"

"I don't know. Everything, I guess." He swiveled Gabriella's desk chair around and resumed setting up picture frames in various shades of purple. "You don't exactly say much, do you?"

Sharpay didn't answer the question, making his answer obvious. She stared at the back of his head, hating that he was cute. Relationships weren't a part of the plan but that didn't mean she couldn't think about them. Not that she wanted _anything_ to do with a boy who underestimated her. Ryan was the only one who knew better. Everyone else just assumed she was Barbie. She'd ditched the pink long ago. He'd placed two more frames on the shelf before running out of space.

"Are you going to tell anyone what your powers are?" He turned and looked at her again, but she merely blinked. He wasn't going to give up , was he? "Are you going to tell anyone... anything?"

"Why would I have to?" She responded finally. It was a valid question in her mind. Her experience had taught her that no one really cared what she had to say. So why speak?

He let out a breath and looked over her face. "Because I'm curious?"

"So what?"

That got him. Troy blinked, and Sharpay was sure he was finally going to give it up. Admit his defeat. He wasn't really curious. "One thing. Tell me one thing about you."

_Why_ was he so interested in her. She sighed and looked around the room. Her eyes landed on a dress that was hanging out of Gabriella's open luggage. "I hate when people think they have to treat me like a fragile, porcelain doll."

She glanced over at him and he nodded in understanding. "Fair enough. I won't-"

"I forgot how nice it was to change out of that skirt," Gabriella joked, emerging from the bathroom with her uniform folded in her arms. She placed it on her bed as she began to search for her shoes.

She never took her eyes off of Troy, though he turned his focus to Gabriella. "You ready for the first practice as an Alpha?"

"Never thought I'd be one, you know?" She replied, pushing her foot into a shoe. As she spoke, Troy glanced at Sharpay from the corner of his eyes. She dared him to finish his sentence. _What? _You won't_ what?_

"Well, hurry up then," He started, the blue in his eyes still pointed in Sharpay's direction. Why was he so insistent on looking at her? Did he think she was going to fall apart and tell him her life story? Think again. "Don't want to miss a minute of the fun."

"I'm going, I'm going." She repeated, hurrying to finish getting ready and oblivious to the fact that Troy wasn't actually paying attention to her. "They wouldn't start practice rounds without us, would they?"

"Of course not."

"Well, then, let's go!" The brunette announced happily, standing up and grabbing onto Troy's hand . She pulled him up while shaking stray hair out of her face. Her smile was overwhelming. She clearly enjoyed the mere thought of getting to hold Troy's hand.

"Hold on tight." He half-grinned, holding his free hand out in Sharpay's direction. She stared at him, examining the expression in his eyes before she slowly stood up, walked closer, and slid her hand into his.

She felt a roller-coaster-dip sensation for half of a second and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright late-summer sun. A cool breeze offset the heat as she looked around the freshly-mown field. The group of students she had seen earlier in the common room were all about fifty feet away. She pulled her hand back, feeling Troy look at her once again. Nothing. She felt nothing. She straightened out her shirt and walked towards her brother, standing next to Zeke.

Unable to speak out loud like a normal person, he sent a message into her brain, _"We're going to have to use our powers."_

"_Thanks, Ryan. Didn't get the memo."_

He looked at Troy and then back to her. _"Which are you going to let them know you have?"_

"_If I'd figured that out, you'd already know, wouldn't you?"_

He rolled his eyes at her and she mulled the options over in her head. They already knew she had power negation. But if they were going to practice mock-combat that alone wouldn't do her much good. She wasn't about to try and be Bella Swan or anything. She _could_ use her psionic blast... that was always fun...

"_No, Sharpay." _Ryan sent her telepathically, not even glancing in her direction. He was killing all of her fun. She started using her negation again, just so that he would get the point to stay out of it. It was her decision after all. As long as she didn't compromise their mission, she could do whatever the hell she wanted. But using psionic blast always came with that sick amusement afterwards. And she wasn't in the mood to feel or look like the bad guy around a group of people she was going to have to spend a lot of time with in the future. She could always just use her strength. No one would be suspecting her to have superhuman strength just by looking at her. Yeah, she'd use that. Hopefully she could fight someone good. Just... not Troy... for whatever reason she didn't feel like hurting Troy. She was going to have to explore that feeling later and nip it in the bud.

"Evans," a voice called. Sharpay and Ryan turned simultaneously towards Chad, who was stretching out his arms. "Why don't you guys sit out the first round. See how it's done and what not."

"Sure." Her brother answered, while she stayed silent. She sat down on the grass, the only one to do so. What, was the grass toxic? Oh well. She crossed her legs and rested her chin on her palm. Jason walked out in front of everyone, arms raised above his head. "I'll go first. And I choose Martha as my first victim."

"Gonna regret it, Cross," Martha, another of the seniors, challenged. She smiled as they both walked further into the field, far enough away so that no one on the sidelines would get hurt by watching. Sharpay noticed a few other students gathered on the outskirts of their side of the large field. Probably interested in seeing what this supposed-to-be-great-and-mighty Alpha Team could do, no doubt. She and Ryan had been in this sort of training since they were fourteen. The novelty was slightly faded.

Jason and Martha stared each other down for a few moments, each looking like they had to focus extremely hard to control their powers. Sharpay scoffed to herself. And they thought she was the noob? Sharpay blinked and saw that there were now three Jasons. So, he had physical duplication. Cool. She blinked again and all three had disappeared. She looked up and down the field, slightly impressed. Having physical duplication _and_ invisibility seemed extremely valuable. She could feel Ryan trying to penetrate her mind and tell her something similar.

Martha didn't even look around, she just stood silently with her eyes closed. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and swung her right arm out, hard, hitting something in the process. She did the same with her left arm, and Sharpay assumed she knew where the trio of invisible Jasons were, and that was the reason for her right and left hooks. If two were down, it meant one was still roaming. Martha kicked her leg out and swung it directly in front of her into about a 60 degree angle, like she was kicking a soccer ball. The guys let out a chorus of understanding 'Ooohhhh' before Jason grunted loudly in pain, falling to his knees as both his invisibility and duplication wore off. Martha pat his head as he cradled himself. "Precognition, one. Invisibility, zero."

Sharpay made a mental note that Martha could see the future and watched as she lamely gave high fives to Taylor and Gabriella. Back at the Institute you didn't get a pat on the back for using your power correctly, you got another opponent to practice on. "Ryan, why don't you pick someone?" She suggested, and Sharpay looked up at him, taking down her shield again. "_Please, kick their know-it-all prep-school asses_."

He looked down at her and shook his head slowly. But she knew him well enough to know that he was enjoying the idea of getting to use his powers against someone. He was probably going to pick a girl to go against, too. Just to look like his powers weren't that great. But they never lost. Never. That's why they were here. "I pick Gabriella."

Gabriella turned her head, brunette waves framing her face. She smiled, "Fun."

"_Don't you dare let her have a pity win."_ Sharpay thought as her brother walked into the field. He looked over his shoulder, smirking, _"Have I ever let someone have a pity win?"_

She grinned back, watching her brother lean his neck side to side like he ctually needed to prepare to fight someone who had the power of empathy. She'd also heard her say she had the power of innate capability- something she'd said to Troy when she thought Sharpay couldn't hear. But she'd heard the entire conversation. About she and Ryan seeming 'odd'. What did that even mean?

/

Ryan and Gabriella lined up just like Jason and Martha had, this time Gabriella stared and blinked a few times at him while smiling. _"Focus, focus, focus."_

He tried not to laugh at her face when she heard his voice in her mind, _"You don't do this much, do you Gabriella?"_

"Not as much as you, clearly." She said out loud.

"_So what's your third power? Sharpay told me your second- actually I heard her thinking about it, but that's beside the point."_

"Why would I let you know?" She asked, and Ryan was bored with her stalling. Time to give East High a preview of what he could do. He ran straight up to her, closing the gap in between them in less than half a second. Gabriella's brown eyes widened as he came to a stop mere inches in front of her. He smiled innocently. "Superhuman speed. No big deal."

On the sideline, Chad let out a whistle. She narrowed her eyes. "You two think you're so cool, huh? All mysterious and what not?"

"That's not it at all. We just know how to use our powers without having to focus so hard. Like how right now you're focusing on trying to use empathy to make me less guarded."

"You reading my mind is sort of an invasion of privacy, no?"

"You're telling me you wouldn't do the same thing if you were me? As if you've never used your own powers for the fun of it?" He grinned, listening to her thoughts for a second as she stared at him, irritated. "What's that? You have pheromone manipulation? And you used your ability to control pheromones on Troy but he found out?"

Gabriella lifted her hand, ready to strike but Ryan and his superhuman reflexes were three steps ahead of her. He caught her by the wrist and tried to keep his smug grin to himself as he kissed her knuckles. "Can't slap someone with reflexes as fast as mine, sweetheart."

A look of understanding flashed across her face and she didn't pull her arm back right away. Once she did, she used her other arm to try and punch him in the solar plexus, but once again his lightning speed and reflexes were on his side. And he took two steps to the right. And to the left when she turned and repeated the attempt. This went on for three or four more minutes and Ryan fought against her continued attempts to manipulate his brain with her pheromones. Though, he had to admit, this was increasingly difficult.

Once he had decided he had let this game go on for long enough, he swiped an arm around her waist and used his foot to knock her off of her feet so that she fell. He caught her before she hit the grass too hard, his other hand landing on the side of her head. She looked up at him thinking, "_Sure, you won. But I still got to you. Your significantly enlarged pupils are telling me you couldn't fight the pheromones."_

He grinned and shook his head, looking her up and down. Before he pushed himself up, he responded, "Like I wouldn't be attracted to you _without_ the pheromones."

/

Sharpay watched her brother push himself off of Gabriella and extend a hand to help her up. She didn't look happy, probably about losing, but accepted his hand anyway. She looked at him as they both made their way back. _"What was that about?"_ She asked, in regards to Ryan and Gabriella's conversation.

"_Just picking her brain."_

"_That's not all it looked like. What is it you said about not being a part of the mission?"_

He narrowed his eyes at her. _"Lay off it, Sharpay."_

She smirked and raised her hand into the air, still the lowest to the ground than anyone else. "My turn."

Ryan's jaw locked, "_Don't do anything stupid."_

She smirked and pushed herself up, clapping the loose ground off of her hands. She looked at Troy, who for once wasn't already looking at her. He was talking to Zeke. Tall, strong Zeke. Perfect victim. She could play dumb and then show Troy and everyone else that she was _not_ weak. Mentally or physically. "Zeke. Let's go."

This got Troy's attention, he looked away from his friend, curious. He looked back to Zeke, who looked pretty confident for a boy who was about to get his ass handed to him. Poor unsuspecting boy. "You're on, Blondie."

She kept a straight face, eyes thick with amusement as she turned away from all of them and walked to the same exact position Ryan had just been in before jumping on top of her roommate. Ech. She examined him as he swung his arms back and forth, limbering up. The corner of her lip turned up as he held them open and yelled over to her, "Well? What've you got?"

"You first." She replied, in a normal tone of voice. He looked over to the rest of their 'Team' and then back at her. He walked towards her a normal speed, making her even more curious as to what his powers were. Clearly nothing that would work from twenty-five paces away. She raised a blonde eyebrow. "Scary."

"I really don't want to hurt you." He laughed, taking in her smaller frame. She stared back defiantly. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried."

He stared at her for a minute, smile flickering as he realized she wasn't joking. Sharpay didn't joke. He shrugged a shoulder. "You asked for it."

Zeke swung a muscular arm and knocked her in the stomach. She tightened her corse and absorbed the shock so that she merely was forced a few steps backwards. A jab to the stomach? Really? That was his idea of a fight? Slightly taken aback by the fact that she didn't shoot backwards, he lifted his arm for another punch but she lifted her own fist in defense and backhanded him in the forearm. There was a sickening snap and Zeke let out a grunt as he pulled his arm back into him.

"What the- _shit_." He curse, looking down at his left arm, which was now slightly bent at an odd angle. She tucked her hair behind her ear as he looked back up to her. "Where did that come from?"

"Sorry." She said, even though she wasn't. It was just a fracture. He would heal. The others rushed around them like moths. Gabriella's jaw dropped, the genius she is. "You fractured his arm? Sharpay..."

Ryan leaned down to her ear, "Way to stay low key. You broke someone on the first day."

She turned and gave him a bored look. "Fractured."

He lifted his arm closer to his dark eyes and examined it from a few angles. He made a face. "This will take at least half an hour to heal."

Troy put on a hand on his shoulder, trying to lighten the mood, "Be thankful it wasn't your neck. That would've taken all day."

Oh, so Zeke had accelerated healing. See? Why was everyone freaking out? He was going to be fine. Bunch of over-reactors. He turned and looked at Sharpay, and she saw something other than jest in his eyes. Uninterested in any of these power-holding-preppies after the scene that had just went down, she turned away from the group, tossing her blonde over her shoulder. She heard footsteps behind her and prayed it wasn't Troy.

"How'd you know he had accelerated healing?" Ryan asked, following close behind his sister as she walked off the field.

"I didn't."


	3. Totally Harmless

Please_please_please_please_please_please_please_please_ don't kill me.

You can bash me all you would like but college broke me down mentally and ripped me apart. Not putting it lightly. Not to mention in the moving process I lost most of In Two Seconds' next chapter. Which sort of killed my wanting to re-do it since I had put a lot of effort into matching up facts and such. I'm trying with that story but since it's been a while and I can't just pull my ideas back out of thin air it may take a while. Not going to lie. Also not going to promise a date for a chapter because if you know me, I've never been good with following up with those.

So please don't ask me to update ITS if you review this chapter. It makes me feel bad because I hate that I'm making you all wait. But if you do review, thank you and enjoy-

* * *

_Stupid Virginia. Stupid school. Stupid immature students._

It's much easier to run when you're angry. Sharpay learned this fact over her many years of being a runner. A productive hobby that developed way back when she was in kindergarten and played recreational soccer. Then she picked up cheerleading, and then lacrosse, and then- well, let's just say she was very involved with her town's extra curriculars. Mostly she did it for the exercise. She was good at it, and she never had a problem with it. But when you had something inside of your head propelling you, it was like you were fighting the problem by pushing yourself to run faster or farther or get whatever it was you had to be doing just right. And poof, problem no longer a problem. Unfortunately after eighth grade there was no more rec due to a certain enrollment at the Training Institute. If you could even call it that.

_Stupid Training Institute. Stupid CIA. Stupid parents being stupid agents for-_

"Ugh," Sharpay grunted aloud, coming to a stop at the edge of the forest she had just spent five miles running through. The school may have these giant fields dedicated to whatever these practice rounds were supposed to accomplish, but it doesn't have a track. Not that Sharpay minded. Running was more fun when you it wasn't so mundane.

She started walking further away from the trees. Why couldn't they have sent Ryan on his own? Why couldn't he be the one trapped at this stupid high school? Why did she have to be so much stronger than him? Stronger than every other member back in Albuquerque? But of course, she knew the reason. They were twins. Combined, they were stronger- when he wasn't pissing her off. They were a package deal. Always had been.

Sharpay slowed her breathing, listening to the noises around her. She focused on one sound in particular that didn't seem to be coming from the wind blowing through the trees or the birds talking to one another. She looked over her shoulder, in the direction of the light foot steps but found no one there. Strange. But she knew better than to believe that anything she heard with her trained hearing was just her imagination. Nothing in her mind could scare her. She was afraid of nothing. Fearless. Her brown eyes scanned the perimeter, focusing behind the scattered trees. When she was sure whatever- _who_ever- was there had changed location, she turned, swinging her arm out to greet the person who popped into her peripheral vision. A strong hand caught her forearm before impact.

"I thought I was the only one who woke up this early."

Sharpay snatched her arm back from Troy's grip. Running at sunrise was the best way to start her day. If she was going to be running into an immature albeit cute student every day, she was going to have to pick another time to run. She tightened her ponytail, trying to seem as unamused as possible. Though she wasn't sure her glares had much affect on his sweat-glistening positive face. She maintained eye-contact, trying to steal her brother's mind control power and mentally tell Troy she was not happy with the fact he could absorb her strength with just a touch. Alas, no luck. Guess she'd actually have to speak to him. "Didn't realize your mimicry could work that fast."

Troy shook some damp hair away from his face but a lock fell back over his blue eye anyway. He used the back of the hand he had just caught her arm with to wipe some sweat from his brow. Sharpay tried to ignore the fact that one of her male turn-ons were exhibiting post-exercise attributes, which he had going on full throttle. We're talking glistening skin, deep breathing, flushed face. _Control yourself_. He shrugged, "Me neither."

"So you test it on the girl with superhuman strength?" She narrowed her eyes. Whose strength was he challenging, here? Maybe he was just stupid. "I could have shattered you."

"After which you would have been overwhelmed with guilt and volunteered to help nurse me back to health." Sharpay merely looked at him, blinked her gaze away and slowly strode past him. Troy let out a breath, "Or not..."

"You would've mimicked Zeke's accelerated healing," She said to the wind as she walked back through the field toward the dormitories.

"Maybe," he replied, easily catching up with her. "Maybe I would have played patient for a little while."

"And why would you do that?"

"An attempt to have a conversation with you composed of something more than glances and half a sentence at a time." Sharpay stopped and looked at him. He motioned by tilting his head, "Sort of like that."

"Why."

Troy blue eyes looked confused, "Why... would I want to have a conversation with you?"

"Yes."

"I see you've switched from short-sentence mode to one liners." She narrowed her eyes. She didn't understand this Bolton character. Not at all. Did he know something? Was he trying to get her to give him a story so that he could go back to whoever it was he was working for and have her and Ryan sent back to that god forsaken Albuquerque training center? Or worse? She shook the thought off. Impossible. But either way, she didn't feel the need to indulge his curiosity. Instead she watched Troy examine her face. Left eye, right eye, mouth, right eye, nose, mouth, left eye. "Have you always been this hard to talk to?"

"Does it matter?"

/

Troy let out an almost frustrated breath, looking over her shoulder and around the field they had stopped in the middle of. He felt the cool breeze pass between them before he saw it blow her blonde ponytail over her shoulder. Her brown eyes stared back at him almost accusingly. "Why are you so guarded?"

"Why do you keep asking questions knowing I won't respond?"

He smiled, "Because eventually you'll give in to my persistence."

"Not likely." She shot back, turning and walking back in the direction of the school campus. He watched her for a short while, giving her time to think that she had gotten rid of him for the time being. Wast she didn't know was that it was not likely he was going to become any less unrelenting. He blinked, felt the usual pull and teleported two steps in front of her. She merely stared, unaffected. Not even a flinch. His own mother couldn't even keep a straight face when he flashed from his room into the kitchen for dinner. Where had she come from? She let out a- what he hoped was- a defeated breath. "One thing."

He narrowed his eyes in challenge. "Two."

She raised an eyebrow. "One."

"Two and I promise to leave you alone until dinner."

"One and I don't make you look like a complete fool during practice rounds."

"You can't scare me off, Sharpay," He responded, shaking his head slowly. 'I know the tough guy face is always just an act."

"Oh, is it? You've known me less than a day, Troy Bolton. Please divulge how you've uncovered such information about my inner self."

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"As if you could if you wanted to-" She laughed and made a move to walk around him. He grabbed her by the arm in the process, stopping her body as it became parallel with his. Sharpay looked down at his hand on her unsurprisingly toned, tan bicep and then up into his eyes. "Let. Go."

"Nope." Troy said in defiance. "I want two things."

"You know I can easily remove your hand." She answered, ignoring the demand. "And by remove I mean your arm from its socket."

"So do it." He challenged, and something in her eyes changed. The shape they had narrowed into widened the slightest bit. She must not be used to having such a straight denial to her wishes. But she was blatantly gorgeous, so he understood why people would give her what she wanted. He saw her locked jaw relaxed but she simply stood there staring at him. "One, I don't do friendships, so I'm not big on this whole sharing thing you seem to be so big on. And two, because of lack of said relationships I've had a lot of time to strengthen my powers. So unless you want four broken fingers, _please_ remove your hand from my arm."

It kind of caught Troy off guard- the information. She didn't _do _friendships? What did that even mean? She had no friends? Had she ever? It would explain her lack of speech and inability to socially interact with a group of people her age. He stared into each of her eyes for a moment longer before giving into their truth and letting go of her. She started walking away the second he did without a second glance. He watched her step off the grass onto the paved path leading to the dorms and unable to hold back the curiosity, asked, "What do you mean you don't-"

She turned to face him, lifting one finger over her lips. He stopped, watching her point the same silencing finger at him. "Until dinner. You promised."

/

"Welcome to Basic Skills, level three. This year you will be learning..."

Ryan sat back in his chair and flattened his blue and silver striped tie against his chest. Basic skills? Were they serious? How long was he going to have to play along with this charade? He turned his head and saw Gabriella across the small aisle between lab desks. She was staring intently at the teacher, taking in every single word. She had innate capability, didn't that sort of omit the need for classes on her part? She tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "_Stop staring at me."_

He smirked, and looked back to the teacher.

"Now last year we left off with how to properly tell a more than convincing lie." Mr. Sommers started, sitting back on his desk and addressing the entire class. Ryan wondered what his power was. "Today I want to see if any of you have retained the information. Lie detection. Who can give us some indicators as to- Gabriella Montez, try to leave some answers for the rest of the class, hm?"

Gabriella grinned, dropping the hand that she had raised into the air. "Limited physical movements that are often stiff, paired with touching of the face or neck. A lot of people scratch behind their ear and avoid eye contact. Facial expressions most likely won't match the statement the accused is saying. "

"The person might also be quick to change the conversation." Ryan interjected, causing Gabriella to turn to him, dark hair whipping around her face. He turned his head to her, still relaxed in his chair. This was amateur hour. "Then, his or her voice will become monotonous while avoiding denying the statement directly. The person will most likely avoid facing the accuser by turning their body to the side or placing an object in between them. The latter is normally unconsciously done."

"Evans, correct?" The teacher asked as Gabriella stared Ryan down. Ryan never looked away from her as he nodded a "Yes sir." The teacher nodded back in what seemed to be approval as Ryan heard him thinking, "_Finally someone to listen to other than Montez"_, and it was all Ryan could do to keep from smirking. Out loud, Mr. Sommers simply said, "Looks like Miss Montez has some competition this year in the brains department."

"Hardly." Gabriella mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for Ryan to hear. He was pretty sure she meant him to. The teacher gave a few more details into the world of lie detection- almost all of which Ryan had learned back at the Institute. He was just wondering if he was going to learn anything new or of interest in this class at all when pair practices were announced. Purposely avoiding eye contact, Ryan could easily tell, Gabriella turned to the girl at the other chair of her lab desk. That just wasn't going to do. He excused himself from his own female desk partner and walked over to the girl Gabriella was smiling at. "Don't you remember telling Mallory you would work with her today?" He asked, eyes fixated on the girl's blue irises.

She nodded slowly, as if in a momentary haze but then blinked and shook herself from it. "He's right, Gabriella, I totally forgot. Maybe he could trade places with me..."

"It would be my pleasure." Ryan grinned. Memory manipulation. Ability to erase or enhance the memories of another. Clearly Mallory and the girl had worked together in the past or Ryan's complete guess would've fallen through. He got lucky. He often did.

"What was that?" Gabriella asked pointedly, eyes examining his face as he sat down on the stool opposite her.

He turned his body to her, knees just brushing hers. "What was what?"

"You just did something. With your eyes. What was it, ESP?"

"No, my little empathist, I'll leave the extrasensory perception to you."

She let out an irritated breath and crossed her legs, smoothing her plaid skirt over her thighs. _"I'll figure it out."_

"Just because I can read your thoughts doesn't mean you shouldn't speak out loud." Ryan replied, somewhat amused by her intent to find the wrong in him. She wasn't going to find any. He wasn't here to do wrong. He was here to find out who did.

"_Why, does it bother you?"_

"_No more so than the fact I can smell you changing your pheromones. PS, your attempt to change my mood isn't going to work because I'm already bored_._"_

A small smirk appeared on the corner of Gabriella's lips. "Whatever. You can only fight it off for so long."

"What are you trying to accomplish with this little exercise, hm? That you're stronger than me power-wise even though I beat you yesterday during those silly practice rounds?" Ryan watched her face for any sort of change- they were supposed to be practicing lie detection methods after all. He could have fun with this. Why not make her sweat a little? "Or are you trying to get me to make a move on you?"

"What?" Gabriella almost laughed, tucking hair behind her ear. Unconscious nervous tick. Strike one. "Why would I, let alone any other female, want that?"

"I don't know. Maybe you think I'm cute."

"I do _not_ think you are cute." Rephrasing the question to make an answer. Lack of use of contractions. Strikes two and three. Someone needed to teach this girl how to lie. Though she'd probably never be at he or Sharpay's level. Ryan nodded to play along, looking away to front of the classroom, idly twisting the ring on his middle finger. "Fair enough."

/

"That's it?"

"Yep." Ryan replied casually, driving Gabriella insane. "That's it."

"I don't know what game you're trying to play with me, but it's very irritating."

He turned his head, his brown-but-nearly-hazel eyes landing on her. "And I don't know what pheromone you're working but it's very beautiful."

Gabriella had stopped altering her pheromones the second he had pointed them out- more out of sheer spite than anything. He obviously knew this. He was obviously trying to see how she would react. He was obviously teasing her. Obviously. "You think you're suave."

"You think you're smarter than me."

"I _am_ smarter than you."

"Knowledge-wise, perhaps." Ryan shrugged a shoulder, as if there was actually an arguement here. She had innate capability. She knew everything- well, nearly everything. "But people-wise? Street-wise? Not a chance."

Fine. He'd caught her attention. For now. She'd play along. "I don't understand."

"Exactly. Note my superiority."

"Are you _trying_ to make me hate you?" Gabriella snapped in a soft voice. She used her empathy to send waves of relaxation his way. Too many for him to ignore. She saw his muscles loosen up and she knew he'd given up on fighting her powers. "We're on the same team, you know, we're supposed to be friends with each other."

"Are you saying you actually _want_ to be friends with me?"

"Yes." She answered just a second too quickly. "I mean, it wouldn't... Yeah, I guess I do." He raised a blonde eyebrow at her. She her body slightly away from his, maintaining his eye contact. "Strictly in the best interest of Alpha Team, of course."

"Of course."

"Okay, rule one of this new friendship? Don't mock everything I say."

"Fine. But rule two? Don't think everything I say is a jab against your intelligence." Gabriella stared him down but the look he gave back almost showed a full presence of sincerity so she left it alone. She held back the urge to roll her eyes. She held out her hand, an attempt at peace. "Fine."

Ryan looked down at her hand for a moment before accepting it. His hand was warm aside from the cool silver of his ring. "Fine."

"Fine." Gabriella said, one more time, as if it was needed. For some reason they were still shaking hands. "Are you reading my mind right now?"

"I'm reading a lot of things." Ryan smirked, and she pulled her hand away cautiously. She looked at her hand and then up at his grin. "Your power gets stronger when you've got direct contact. Should've been obvious."

"You don't like me or Sharpay very much, do you?" He asked calmly. She felt instant guilt, re-thinking all of the thoughts she'd had about the two newcomers. Especially Sharpay. Ryan must have been reading her mind again, because he continued with, "Sharpay hasn't been much of a people-person since our dad died. Don't judge her too much."

Well, that was kind of sweet. He was protective of his sister even though she was sort of rude to him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. She nodded slowly. "I'll try to talk to her or something."

"You have to show her she can trust you first." Ryan advised as Mr. Sommers stood up in the front of the room and began to introduce the next lesson. "If she doesn't think there's trust between you, she won't bother."

"But how do I show her I'm trustworthy if she never-"

"Shhh, Gabriella." Ryan cut her off with a finger to his lips. "You may know already know the lesson, but some of us are trying to learn here."

/

Boring. Boring. Boring.

That is all this school had to offer.

Except for Sharpay's combat class. That had been fun. Even though ninety percent of the class had been spent talking about techniques rather than performing them. Which had also been boring. Back at the Institute she had been given multiple hours to 'mock' combat other students. If you could call them students. There were even The Tests, which were basically the Institute's condensed , less violent version of the Hunger Games. In those terms, she was always a Katniss of course, beating out everyone else. Though with her powers, it was kind of comical for anyone else to think they could beat her. Even Ryan knew better- though he made a valid attempt to try.

Troy had been in the class, living up to his agreement to be silent in her direction until dinner. Along with Jason and Martha, some of the seniors from Alpha who Sharpay didn't find that interesting despite Martha's precognition and Jason's invisibility. Okay, fine, the invisibility was kind of cool. Sharpay had wanted that power desperately back at the Institute, but it was a no-go. If they wanted to bestow a power onto a student, like the gods they thought they were, they had the power to choose who and what. Requests were not taken.

She walked through the doorway to the dorm casually, untucking her white dress shirt and making her way up the steps. A boy passed her on the stairs looking awe-struck, but she ignored the stare and walked straight down the hallway to the room she knew belonged to her brother. She didn't bother knocking either. She didn't see the point. It's not like she was going to walk in and see Troy half-naked... Though it wouldn't be the worse thing in the world...

Ryan looked up from his spot on the bed when she shut the door, tinkering with a small piece of technology most likely from one of his classes. "Are you allowed to be in here?"

"Do I care?" Sharpay answered monotonously, looking around the room. She took in the two unoccupied beds. Guessing that the messy one was Zeke's, she chose to sit on the bed whose corners were practically tucked in. This left a question in the back of her mind as to who Troy's parents were. Possibly military. Possibly CIA. Figures. She grabbed the metal-coated cube from her brother's hands before sitting back on the sheets carefully, because for reason she cared whether or not she messed up Troy's bed. She looked down at the task in her hands and asked, "Where are the others?"

"By 'others', do you mean half-naked Troy?"

She looked up at him, unamused until Ryan grabbed both sides of his head. He winced in mild pain. She was being kind. "Alright, I'm sorry! Turn it off!" Sharpay looked down at her hands once more and smoothed her fingers over the flat surface and the blast ceased, leaving Ryan rubbing at the side of his temples to diminish the remaining headache. "They went to study. You know, the place you should be right now?"

"You're not there either, so I don't see the point in me needing to go. Not like I need the practice." Sharpay replied, bored. She applied pressure with her thumbs at a particular spot on each side of the cube, causing it to fold open and reveal a small bottle of clear liquid. She placed the cube on Troy's bed and tossed the vial to her brother. "Or the extra help."

"What is it?" Ryan asked, examining it for a moment. He unscrewed the small lid and barely took a whiff before his face contorted and he immediately capped it. "Baleum," he coughed.

"Why would they give you Baleum?" Sharpay questioned in return, thinking back to some of her Institute training. Baleum was a fine dust that appeared clear when mixed into boiled water or alcohol. To anyone who didn't know what it was, it smelled sort of like a bottle of ammonia. Mixed into an alcoholic beverage, as this particular serum was intended for use on those in upper class society who threw large parties with open bar, the scent and taste somehow becomes undetectable. It's been used since the early spy days, back when Edward Bancroft and Benjamin Franklin were still around. Take a large sniff of it on its own and you'd pass out, wake up locked in a room for questioning. Take a large sip of it with your vodka tonic and in less than ten minutes, you'd start spilling all your secrets. But why would they put something like that in a student's hands? Maybe the Institute set something up... No. No, they didn't have much use for a truth serum this early in their mission. Wouldn't make sense. Everything has to be timed and perfect.

"I don't know..." Ryan started, tossing it back to his sister. "I think we all got something different. Baleum isn't exactly something you just fill up vials of and pass around a school."

"It's not really something you give one student a vial of, either. I mean... in the wrong hands..." Sharpay held the liquid in front of her eyes. The secrets she'd be able to learn with just a- She felt Ryan trying to get into her head and looked up at him. "Relax, I'm harmless."

If being able to kill a person just by looking at them is harmless, then yes. Totally harmless.

"Sharpay." She rolled her eyes as she looked up at her brother. He nodded at her hand. "Give it."

"New school. New uniform. Same. Boring. Ryan." Sharpay mocked, tossing the vial back. He tucked it into his pocket. "You need to learn to have fun."

"I have plenty of fun." He said matter-of-factly. Highly doubtful, but she'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Even though her brother's idea of fun was often reading century old biographies on a Friday night. "Maybe not as much as you and-"

"I swear on our blood line if you say something that even starts with the letter T, I will-"

"You said it, not me." Ryan smirked, standing up from the bed. "Someone's going to mess up the mission..."

Sharpay simply stared at him. He was clearly trying to get a rise out of her. No use blasting him if he was so openly inviting the thrashing migraine in. She just wasn't sure why he was trying to provoke her. Did he have a bet going? Was the Headmistress waiting in the hallway? "If any of us messes up, it's going to be you. Don't think I haven't seen you and my roommate getting buddy-buddy."

"We were clearly instructed to make friends and blend in. It's strictly in the interest of the mission."

She laughed as she stood up. "Right, the one that has absolutely nothing to do with getting into a girl's skirt?"

"When has my motive ever been to get a girl into bed? And it's not like she's distracting me. Unlike Troy, who you were thinking about the entirety of Ciphers and Co- _HELLO_, Thor, human being underneath your forearm." Sharpay ignored Ryan's whining and continued pinning him against the wall by his bed. His speed and reflexes were useless when he couldn't see the attack coming. Never turn your back on the opponent. So what if during class Troy had crossed her mind once...

twice...

threesixeight times. But he was sitting directly in front of her. It was sort of hard to ignore the person whose head was blocking the chalkboard. And now that they'd come to an agreement not to speak until dinner, well, he was actually sort of interesting. Not that she'd ever openly say or think that. And she obviously couldn't help but notice his back muscles, I mean, they were staring her right in the face. Literally. Right in front of her for 50 minutes. Hard to ignore through a white dress shirt. _Knock it off, Sharpay, focus_. She released the pressure on his neck all at once and turned around just in time for a body to materialize in front of her. A pair of warm hands caught her biceps as she momentarily lost balance. She felt her hands reach out and press against someone's torso. A pair of blue eyes held her gaze for no more than four seconds. Now was _not_ the appropriate time for him to be showing up.

"Ryan, are you alright?" Troy asked, removing his hands from Sharpay and looking over her shoulder. She snatched her hands back, folding them across her chest. He had nice abs, too. There had to be a flaw somewhere. Ryan lifted a hand and waved it away, clearing his throat to reopen his lungs to air. "Peachy."

Troy looked back down at her. She should probably move away from him... right?

She took a step back and then turned towards the door. Troy called her name and she looked over her shoulder, waiting for whatever it was he had to say. He opened his mouth like wanted to ask another one of his questions, and maybe she wanted him to. No. No she didn't. She didn't want that. She couldn't want that. She blinked, but he just closed his mouth and gave a small smile. "Sorry. Dinner. I forgot."

Right.

Dinner.

She forgot, too.

But she didn't care. So it didn't matter.

"Good memory," she replied, adding a smirk just to regain some control of the situation before leaving the room.

/

"Safe to say you won't be taunting Taylor anymore, huh Zeke?" Gabriella asked, the first to push open the door to the cafeteria. She looked over her shoulder at Zeke, who was rubbing at his ear in an attempt to fully regain his hearing from Taylor's sonic scream during practice rounds. Everyone else had practically fallen to their knees covering their ears, too, but since Zeke had been her sparring partner, he'd taken the worst hit. Normally Troy enjoyed practice rounds, but since today was the first official school day, it meant supervision by a teacher. And that meant less fun. When he passed through the door frame, he looked behind himself as he held the door open for Sharpay who was walking just a step in front of her brother. Whenever they walked silently like that, Troy wondered if they were having a conversation through each other's minds. They were probably so used to it.

"Shut up, Gabriella." Zeke gave as his best reply. Sharpay reached her hand out to catch the door, looking up into Troy's eyes in recognition. It was dinner. Technically he could start trying to get her to talk again. Although they rarely spoke to each other when there were people around. Not at role call, or class, or the other meals... Granted he'd only met her yesterday and there weren't many of those experiences to count. Still. "Thanks."

"Yep." Troy said, turning into the cafeteria that was set up buffet style. It wasn't the best food, but it was a lot better than when his mom tried to cook, which typically ended with fire alarms or take-out menus. Give her a knife and she could probably send it flying directly into a man's chest from 13 yards away, but expecting her to chop a tomato with it is a whole other story.

"Bolton," Jimmie, one of the guys he had been in Theta Team with last year, caught his hand in their old familiar handshake. When he released it, he grabbed a plate and handed one to him. "Congrats on Alpha."

Troy nodded in thanks and took the plate. He turned his torso and handed it to Sharpay, who took it without a word but added her signature three-second stare, which was conversation enough itself. Those eyes could tell stories. He picked up his own plate and turned back to Jimmie. "Congrats on Gamma."

"Thanks, man." Jimmie said, grinning with obvious accomplishment. With one power it was amazing to get higher than Theta. But portal creation was pretty rare. More rare than having a power itself. His eyes caught something over Troy's shoulder and the brunette whistled softly. "You're so lucky you're on the team with the new girl. I have Foreign Languages with her and she barely even speaks. Word is she doesn't speak at all."

Alright, Jimmie may have been his closest friend in Theta, but he wasn't the sharpest blade in the shed. "She speaks. She's just... selective, I guess."

As in, if you think she's mute, she probably won't bother proving you otherwise.

"Selective?" Jimmie chuckled at the idea to himself, putting two spoonfuls of pasta on his plate. "Were you one of these so-called selected?"

"Sometimes. When she wants me to be." He answered, knowing full well she was half a pace behind him. Noiseless and beautiful. Silently listening to the conversation. As was Ryan, who was actually probably reading both of their minds... Oh... Right... "_Ryan, if you're listening to this, get out of my brain."_

"_Too late, man."_ Ryan's voice rang clear in his head, as if he had spoke it out loud. Troy turned to look at him, over Sharpay's head. The blonde boy just gave an amused shrug, as if he couldn't help himself. Guess he probably couldn't when the thoughts were so... _there_.

"What does that even mean?" Jimmie asked, unaware. But Troy liked to think he understood. Maybe he did, or maybe he didn't understand anything about her. But he knew a few things. Like that she didn't like when people treated her a certain way based on her appearance, that she woke up early in the morning to run through the woods, and that she was strong, and smart, and beautiful. And somewhere along the line something happened to make her think that she had to hide herself behind her strength every day. But Troy saw through it. He didn't know what was underneath that smirk but he got a small glimpse of it every time they spoke. And that was enough for him. For now.

"So how is it she shows up out of nowhere and gets Alpha? What's her power? Excessive good-looking-ness?"

Troy shook his head. "Don't let her catch you basing her abilities off of her looks. It'll probably only end up with your arm in a cast."

Jimmie turned, eyes somewhat wide, "She broke your arm?"

"Me? No. But she fractured Zeke's."

"Oh, right. Yesterday's rounds. Tiara told me about that."

"And I should probably let you know that the fact that you've chosen to talk about her while she's standing right behind me probably means she won't be very interested in talking to you."

Jimmie smirked, unashamed as they moved away from the selection of food, "What are you, her specialist?"

He shrugged and looked over his shoulder. Sharpay seemed very interested in picking out only certain pieces of lettuce with the salad tongs. "She's just not as hard to figure out as she tries to be."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Jimmie, Troy placed his plate in front of one of the unoccupied seats at the where Gabriella had apparently designated the Alpha juniors would be sitting. He walked over to the drink bar, where East High refused to provide soda as an option because it was so unhealthy, which was fine with Troy. He turned, about to grab a cup when one was held out for him. His eyes recognized the golden skin before they went up the arm and practice round shirt and to Sharpay's face. She stared for a few seconds, still holding onto the cup before saying, "Thank you."

Her fingers loosened as she grabbed a second glass for herself. Troy knew exactly what she was referring to. "You heard the conversation."

"You were right in front of me, Troy. You wanted me to hear you." Sharpay smirked softly, pressing the button for orange juice and watching the glass fill up. "Plus Ryan told me what you were thinking."

Not awkward at all.

"Everything?" She stopped the flow of juice and grabbed a straw, looking up at him. The fact that her eyes were so beautiful really made Troy enjoy those stares she gave him. But he was going to really have to control his thoughts from now on. She freed the straw from it's paper wrapper and pushed it into the liquid. "Just about."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to... You know... Think about you." As if that made any sense. He held a cup underneath the fruit punch Powerade, maybe the flow of electrolytes would give him some clarity.

"Yes you did, or else you wouldn't have thought it." This was true. But this didn't make it any less embarrassing. Was that what he was? Embarrassed? He wasn't sure. Maybe he liked that Sharpay knew how he felt. Maybe it would open her up. "People have thought a lot of things about me, Troy. I've gotten everything from 'bitch' to 'Barbie'. Someone back at-" She paused for only a moment, something registering in her eyes. He didn't think it was anything to be curious over but he made note of it anyway. "-Albuquerque used to positively hate me. And I mean loathe. You can't even imagine the thoughts in his head."

Troy pulled his cup back, watching her even though her eyes were elsewhere. The idea of someone hating you was bad enough, but having to hear the things they thought. Their reasons. It must have been horrible. Maybe that's why she was so reserved, it'd be a logical reason. "Sharpay, I'm sor-"

"It's not often Ryan tells me people are thinking things about me that I actually like." She blinked her eyes over to his. Troy couldn't help himself, he smiled. She took a step closer to him, only both of their cups in between them. It took immense control to not- he wasn't sure of exactly what. But he was holding himself back from doing _something_. She narrowed her eyes just enough to remain friendly. "Don't make regret liking them."


End file.
